July 19 – As the new League Cup to feature four MLS and four Liga MX teams gets ready to kick off next week, the two leading leagues in North America have announced that next season the fledgling competition will be expanded to 16 teams.
The 2019 quarterfinals get underway July 23 with MLS clubs hosting the knock-out matches: Chicago Fire vs. Cruz Azul; LA Galaxy vs. Club Tijuana; Houston Dynamo vs. Club America; Real Salt Lake vs. Tigres UANL.
The semi-finals will be played August 20 and the final on September 18 at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas.
Next year the expansion to 16 teams will see MLS qualifying teams determined by the top four teams in the 2019 MLS Eastern Conference regular season standings and the top four teams in the 2019 MLS Western Conference regular season standings that will not be participating in the 2020 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League.
The eight Liga MX teams will include the 2019 Apertura champion, 2020 Clausura champion, 2019-20 Copa MX champion, and the next five best teams in the combined Apertura 2019-Clausura 2020 standings that have not already qualified for Leagues Cup.
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